Slavery Is More Prevalent Than We Think

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Photo taken at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

What does it feel like to be a slave? Most of us have listened with horror and disbelief to history lessons spelling out the indecencies that men have inflicted on one another. In America the mistreatment of African-American people has been a huge blot on our country’s timeline, and those involved experienced much emotional and physical grief. The repercussions of this slavery are still being felt today.

In more recent history sex trafficking has come to the forefront as a major source of slavery. According to Wikipedia, “The selling of young women into sexual slavery has become one of the fastest-growing criminal enterprises in the global economy. The United Nations reports that 4 million people a year are traded against their will to work in one or another form of servitude.”[1][2]

These and other forms of slavery have something in common. They are all connected to the sinful nature that man inherited from our first parents. Every person has the capability of giving this type of treatment to others because we ourselves are enslaved to our own sin problems.

“Me?” you may say. “I have never been a slave and I don’t know what if feels like!”

Has someone who is suffering from low feelings of self-esteem ever treated you unkindly? Have you tried to find relief from pain in worldly pleasures? Have you carried guilt like a ball and chain around your ankle and rehashed your mistakes over and over, wishing you could have a redo? Does the thought of death – yours or a loved one’s – create terror and lock your heart in a prison of fear?

These are only some of the enslavements that sin brings into our lives. Each and every one of us has been held in the power of another because we are human. Addictions, anger, bitterness, discouragement, anxiety, loneliness, perfectionism, stress, and prejudice are some of the prisons that hold us captive to our emotions and direct our mistreatment of others.

Slaves need to be set free to thrive! God knows this and did something about it. He gave His only Son a human body and sent Him to break us out of our prison. Through His death He removed the power that our captor, Satan, had over us so that we could be free from the sin slavery that ruled our lives.

All of the things that bind us can be removed by the power of God’s Son, but we have to want it! Sadly many slaves either do not want to or don’t know how to be free. They keep returning to their captors to endure the same suffering over and over when it is not necessary.

What does it feel like to be a slave? If you think clearly about your life, you will know – we have all been there in one way or another. The real question is: What does it feel like to be free? Really free? Come to Jesus and find out! If the Son will set you free, you will be free indeed!